Chef Jeremy Corson cooked about 15 pounds of dandelions that students had picked from an area on campus that's free of pesticides.

He incorporated dandelions in cupcakes, several salads, an omelette and a cream cheese and bacon concoction called "dandelion bites."

Lydia Sheaks/Flavor 574

Goshen's second annual Dandelion Day is a way to encourage students to think about sustainability, said one student who helped harvest the plants, Natasha Weisenbeck.

"You have this wealth of food resource, and it's there for you to eat," she said.

Goshen College student Natasha Weisenbeck shows off a dandelion salad she's about to try at the campus' Dandelion Day on April 22, 2014. Lydia Sheaks/Flavor 574

The college's sustainability coordinator Glenn Gilbert said about three years ago, the school converted 20 percent of its land to natural landscaping. Dandelions popped up on the untreated land, and some people were annoyed.

So the school started Dandelion Day as a way to change people's perception of the plants.

They aren't just weeds, and some in the Goshen community already know of the plant's delicious possibilities.

Elizabeth Jeschke visited for Dandelion Day along with her husband Marlin Jeschke, who formerly taught theology at Goshen College.

Elizabeth Jeschke compared Chef Corson's dishes to the one she makes herself at home a few times a year.

She learned to cook with dandelions from her family growing up, she said.

When she heard that the chef had created a cupcake using dandelions, Elizabeth Jeschke almost couldn't contain her excitement. She rushed over to the bakery area to see, and later tried the little cake.